$525 UN-coded template for IT startup - ephex

Greetings! Our company, "ephex" requires an UNCODED template for our new website.

We have a brand but nothing else, and we are allowing you CREATIVE FREEDOM to come up with a colour scheme and style that will become the basis of our corporate ID.

ephex

Tagline:
evolving ideas

Desired Color Scheme:
white background, bright, bold, vibrant feel (blues, greens, oranges OK if used tastefully)

Desired Style:
modern, web 2.0-ish, friendly, not overly corporate or professional

Accepted File Formats:
Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai); Layered Formats (.psd or .tiff)

This is take #2 of a contest we had running for the past couple of weeks.  The contest was http://contests.sitepoint.com/contests/3107Â

Our favourite entries were from Chippi, pdesignstudio and proD4u (see end of brief for links)... your challenge is to better the standard these entries set.

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This company is an "umbrella" company for IT ventures, so it doesn't really have its own products, but is a stable for various IT innovation. Hence, the target audience is investors, corporate partners, prospective employees, media, etc.

The site's style should convey:
- confidence
- optimism
- innovation
- youthful vibrance(you do NOT need to use these words in the design!)

The brand can be found here:
PNG small
PSD/AI

CONTENT/LAYOUT
Optimise for 1024x768 screen.

Content menu: (preferably along the top)
- about
- skill
- use
- join
- contact
- download
- etc (yes we actually want a tab/link called "Etc"Features
- Left-hand-side section sub-menu
- Recent blog posts (headline list in side panel - probably RHS)
- Latest news (headline list in side panel - probably RHS)
- RSS Feed links to above
- Page updates/highlights (headline list in side panel - probably RHS)
- Graphic/Animated features (side/tower - standard 120px width)
- Newsletter subscription form (ie, input box + submit button)A good example of the type of layout we'd like is http://www.9810.rotary.org.au (which is a site we operate). HOWEVER, unlike this site we probably want the main nave to be along the TOP, with the section submenu (usually of 2-5 items) on the Left-hand-side. (I say "probably" as we're willing to be convinced otherwise if someone comes up with a better idea).

STYLE HINTS & TIPS

Basically, it's up to you. We don't have a corporate ID, just the brand (linked above). The colours used in the brand are a good start, but you're welcome to use others. We want the site to be the basis of our corp ID, to then be used on stationery, brochures, etc.
- Remember the key themes of confidence,optimism, innovation, youthful vibrance, but bear in mind also the target audience: investors, corporate partners, prospective employees, media, etc.
- Use good FONTS! We're heavily into nice, clean strong fonts, and will be looking for good use of fonts as a factor that sorts out good design from GREAT design
- Please don't use stock photos of young smiling business-type people... that's not the type of business we are! If you must use a photo to use try this one :), however DON'T integrate the picture into the design or use it as a justification for using a lot of black and gray in the design. We would prefer the focus to be on the brand itself if anything, not photographs (we're a tech company after all, not a photographic studio).
- Try not to make the header too deep (high)... we don't want the header taking up half the page, keep it sleek and allow plenty of content above the fold.
- IMPORTANT - a common problem we saw in entries to our last attempt at this contest was an over-reliance particularly on 3d/glassy/shadow type effects.  Whilst we don't have particular objections to these types of effects, where these are used they should be used sparingly to enhance an already good design, not as the major feature of the design.  (Good professional designers will know what we're talking about here).Some examples of what we like:
- http://www.granitenewmedia.com (style/vibe more than layout)
- http://www.hubspot.com (also mainly for style/vibe but layout is similar to what we want)
- http://www.simplebits.com/ (vibe/layout)
- http://www.9810.rotary.org.au (mainly layout)

I know each of these contains substantial differences to each other and to what we've said we want in the brief, so please read the brief carefully and look at our feedback to other entrants. These examples are more to give you a sense of the style and "feel" we're looking for. As I said, we're leaving it open for you to be creative.

Our favorite entrants from our first attempt on this contest were:

This is take #2 of a contest we had running for the past couple of weeks.  The contest was http://contests.sitepoint.com/contests/3107Â

Our favourite entries were:

http://contests.sitepoint.com/conte…ntry191873

http://contests.sitepoint.com/conte…ntry192337

For each of these entries we liked the layout and general look & feel, but the key improvements we are looking for are:
- Less reliance on effects and icons
- More vibrant colour (we're happy to see greens and oranges if used tastefully)
- A design that just looks and feels really right :)Good luck!